Tony Chen Lin

Radio New ZealandTony Chen Lin (piano) – Dreams/Fantasies
The Great Hall of the Arts Centre, Christchurch – 1.10pm, 30 September 2019Review: Tony RyanFrom Upbeat, 11:16 am on 2 October 2019

Dear Tony Chen Lin

Every now and then, usually years apart, I encounter a performance that goes straight to my heart and which seems to inhabit my soul. Today, yours was one such.

Everything was overwhelming, and I’m so glad that you retained all four works from your Chamber Music NZ tour in this Christchurch programme. By the middle of the first movement of the Janáček Sonata, the tears were flowing.

Then, at that rapturous opening of Schumann’s Fantasie, my heart was in my throat!

After the second movement I wondered if others in the audience thought it all as special as I did.

The standing ovation answered my question. In other parts of the world such a performance would have inspired the audience to extend their appreciation for many minutes longer; I’m sorry that we are more restrained in Christchurch.

The only other time that I have encountered a live performance of the Schumann was in the same hall from Hungarian ...continued

Can it really be three years almost to the day that Tony Chen Lin was last playing for us in this same venue? – delighting and enthralling us on that occasion with a programme remarkable as much for its explorations of the music’s connecting threads and echoings as its contrasts and differences? Perhaps it was the unifying factor of having a similarly “only connect” spirit hovering about the music and the playing on this more recent occasion which helped to “telescope” the intervening period so markedly.

Here, the pianist’s choice of repertoire sought out a thread of fantasy running through each of the pieces, an opening up of worlds of imagination and conjecture across varied mindscapes, ranging from personal angst (Mozart), romantic longing (Schumann), whimsical daydreaming (Gao Ping) and presentiment of tragedy (Janáček). ...continued

Readers of my reviews of recitals presented by Whangarei Music Society in association with Chamber Music NZ might have noticed the change of venue. Newberry’s has a large, light, airy room with a capacious dais at the front, comfortable seating for 300 or more, a decent grand piano, and spacious reception area. Compared to the Old Library, the acoustic is dry; nevertheless, for chamber music it is passable.

Born in China, New Zealander Tony Chen Lin (I’m not sure of his proper surname, so I’ll just say ‘Tony’) studied at Canterbury University (NZ), Freiburg Hochschule für Musik (Germany) and the Liszt Academy (Budapest). As well as being an accomplished, mature and well-travelled pianist, equally happy as a recital soloist, chamber musician or concerto soloist, Tony is also a teacher, conductor and composer (see his website). Judging by the comprehensive, evocative and literate essays he provided, he is ...continued

My first encounter with Tony Chen Lin was in 2008 at Kerikeri’s International Piano Competition, in which he was awarded what I’ve always regarded as a “too close to call” second place to his friend Jun Bouterey-Ishido. Since then I’ve heard each of them some years afterwards give separate recitals in Wellington; and while appreciating the unique excellence of each, I’m still unable to pronounce either of them the other’s superior. Most recently I heard Lin perform at St.Andrew’s, which was less than a couple of years ago, in September of 2016 (the review can be read at the following link – http://middle-c.org/2016/09/tony-chen-lin-piano-evocations-visions-and-premonitions-in-st-andrews/ ), and two of the items he presented on that occasion are now included on this, his first CD, appearing on the Rattle Records label.

The CD’s overall title “Digressions” is borrowed from one of these two pieces, in fact Lin’s own composition. As its subtitle Meditation on R.S. suggests, the piece is a kind of reflection on Robert Schumann’s Humoreske, the work that concludes this recording’s programme. The opening tones of Lin’s piece seemed conjured out of the air, with ...continued

This fine debut album from Lin features three appealing but seemingly unrelated works. Bartok's Piano Sonata in three movements, written in 1926, provides a fresh and lively beginning to the programme, followed by J.S. Bach's French Suite No.5 in G major BWV816, which also has a lively appeal, with seven short dance movements showing Bach in some of. his happiest moments of joy.

The final classical work is Schumann's mercurial Humoreske Op.20, in six slightly longer movements, and where the ''humour'' refers to a study of the human condition. The composer confessed in a letter to Clara that he was ''laughing and crying at the same time'' when he .. wrote it.

In deliberate ''digression'' (echoed in the album title), the soloist has sandwiched in his own five-minute composition Digression, subtitled as '' Meditation on R.S. '', which introduces the Robert Schumann masterpiece, and is itself inspired by the digressive nature of that work.

Lin won the NZ National Concerto Competition in 2007 and other scholarships and honours since then, including being a multiple recipient ...continued

It is clear both from his playing and his notes to the recording that Tony Chen Lin is a deep thinker. Raised in Christchurch and initially studying with Goo Ping he won the Christchurch Junior Concerto Competition, the New Zealand Notional Concerto Competition, and was placed 2nd in the 2008 Kerikeri International Piano Competition. He is now making a name on the international circuit.

The programme on his debut CD is eclectic - beginning with Bartok's tough Piano Sonata. Having studied with Peter Nagy in Christchurch and then at the Liszt Academy in Budapest he has a wonderfully innate understanding of Bartok's style in a very clean, exact performance of the difficult work, without sacrificing any of its drama and style.

The Bartok is followed by Bach's French Suite No. 5 in G Major (BVN 816). Again, the clean, purposeful playing immediately arrests the ear. He never forgets that it this is dance music, hence one of the links to the Bartok. Although played on a piano, there is a nod towards authentic performance practice with very light pedalling, ...continued

Bartok, Bach and Schumann form the bulk of this debut album by the award-winning China-born, New Zealand-schooled pianist now based overseas. The title piece however is an elusive composition of his own which very slowly comes to life like a flower unfolding and doesn't quite establish any particular motif in its five-plus minutes but suggests a number of directions and teasingly follows few for any duration.

It is an oasis of reflection and as he says in the liner notes he often uses it as hors d'oeuvre before Schumann's Humoreske (which here follows) because it too is a piece which seemingly does not begin.

That said Humoreske is a beautiful, melodic and sometimes reflectively melancholy cycle which is by turns whimsical, sprightly and gently effervescent and at others broods among the joy of life around it, making connection with pleasure only when it suits. Chen Lin captures all of these moods.

The Bartok Piano Sonata BB 88 from '26 opens the album with a work which straddles the worlds of classical structure and folk idioms so there is that earthy second movement which seems to pull ...continued

But, even so, the highlight of this concert was Ravel’s G Major Piano Concerto.

The soloist was former Christchurch pianist Tony Chen Lin who, we were told, was making his professional concerto debut with this performance. And what a performance!

This is, technically, a very difficult work, but every colourful nuance and detail was fully projected by the soloist with masterful variety of light and shade and an almost chamber music feel in the way he worked with the orchestra; and the orchestra here were equal stars in the way they brought Ravel’s colourful magic to life.

For much of the piece, I’m aware of watching and listening to the orchestra just as much as the pianist and so many special details were just so brilliantly done. There are just so many solo contributions from the orchestra, but I specially have to mention the CSO’s long-time ‘crack’ percussion section, who also, incidentally, shone in the Leonie Holmes piece.

This was Tony Chen Lin's big night, but the lanky Chinese-New Zealander showed few signs of nerves as he walked on stage at Christchurch's Charles Luney Auditorium on Saturday.

This was a return home for Lin, who won the Christchurch Junior Concerto at the age of 14, before graduating from the University of Canterbury with string of accolades and moving to Europe to complete his classical music studies.

Now he was back to make his professional debut with the CSO. Greeting him was conductor Benjamin Northey, a full house and one of the most demanding piano concertos in the repertoire – Maurice Ravel's dazzling Piano Concerto in G major.

Unfazed, Lin conquered this seductive Gallic siren in a fastidious, yet full-blooded performance, marked by total control and diamond-hard precision. It was also a partnership made in musical heaven, as the CSO and Lin together tackled Ravel's slightly louche jazz inspired moods with exceptional clarity and control. Lin played the wistful slow movement with such sensual intensity that you could almost sense an audience holding its ...continued

Tony Chen Lin is very familiar to Christchurch audiences, having lived here when he was younger and made numerous trips back to perform since studying and work­ing overseas, but he has now introduced us to another fine musical talent in violinist Jun Hong Loh.

Every note, phrase and inflec­tion were carefully considered, both players extremely expressive in their playing and demeanour as they explored every avenue open to them in the three quite different works on show today.

From the opening bars of the Allegro from Mozart's troubled Sonata in E minor K.304, it was clear that here were two performers totally in sync with each other, both playing with the same intent, understanding and musical direction.

The two movements presented today showed both the sadness and the optimism that pervade the sonata.

In the Tempo di Minuetto the duo achieved a sense of aching from the plaintive violin opening and the frequent mood shifts were well done. I particularly liked how they created a sense of space by taking plenty of time.